


Ever upward

by Munnin, yakalskovich



Series: Necessary Pebbles verse [9]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: M/M, the force is with them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-07
Updated: 2017-02-07
Packaged: 2018-09-22 16:30:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9616061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Munnin/pseuds/Munnin, https://archiveofourown.org/users/yakalskovich/pseuds/yakalskovich
Summary: In a rare break between Eadu's downpours, Galen and Bodhi go rock-climbing to get away from things.





	

Bodhi waited by the outer door of the facility, looking up at the sky that for once wasn’t black -- grey and hazy, but not black. 

The medic had given him a series of injections that allowed him to walk and carry a light pack without too much pain. Granted, there were patches he couldn't feel, on his hip mostly. But he could live with that to enjoy a day outside.

Galen appeared a few moments later with a facility management droid by his elbow. "Keep those safe for me," he said, handing the droid the official code cylinders from his uniform, with which he was wearing a ratty warm jacket and non-regulation boots.

Bodhi waited till they were out on the edge of the pad to speak. "I don't think I've ever seen you look so dressed down." He smiled.

"There's no point in wearing dress uniform for a hike," Galen said. "Director Krennic would of course wear his cape, but he seems to feel incomplete without that glorified bedsheet."

Bodhi snorted a laugh. "Yeah, I've seen him. From a distance, anyway. He's um... quite a sight."

"It must be so impractical," Galen said, easily striding out into the roughening terrain. "But the fellow is bedsheet crazy, anyway."

Another one of his terrible inept jokes, most likely, as he suddenly grinned at Bodhi, who laughed and spun around. They were out of line of sight of the facility so he had no hesitation stealing a kiss. "You're terrible! And I love you for it." 

They had reached the first set of ridges, and Bodhi paused to consider the climb.

"We can use a rope for that," Galen said. "We don't really need it, but it might even good practice." He grinned at Bodhi. Out of earshot and eyesight of the facility, he seemed to perk and loosen up.

"It's not that bad. I think we can free climb it." Bodhi pulled the straps tighter. "And the practice will be good." 

He stepped to the base of the cliff and reached for the first handhold. He wasn’t a technically skilled climber but knew well enough how to think a path out.

Galen watched him for a while, then started to follow. "You're quite the natural," he said from below Bodhi.

"Just one of Jedha's street spiders, climbing the walls and cliffs of the city." Bodhi looked back, hanging his weight off his fingers.

"Strong and light," Galen said, "so you must have been a menace as a kid." That's said very fondly.

Bodhi chuckled, bouncing up another couple of footholds. "The art wasn't in being the biggest or the strongest. It was in being the fastest." He reached the summit and perched, legs dangling. "The fast ones didn't get caught."

"I still can't catch you," Galen said, smiling up at Bodhi from where he carefully followed upwards. Bodhi reached down a hand to help Galen up the last step of the way, gesturing for him to sit. The view wasn't bad. They could see the damaged landing pad clearly.

Galen came up and sat, his shoulder touching Bodhi's. "There's actual landscape, look!"

Bodhi hummed an agreement, but his eyes were drawn to the damaged pad. Even with most of the wreckage cleared away, the scorch marks, the buckled and scored durocrete still bore witness to the disaster, and how close they all came to death.

Galen put his arm around Bodhi and sighed quietly, following the direction of his glance. "So fragile," he said. "No matter how large the things we build, they are so small in the vastness of nature, and so easily broken."

"The width of a fingernail." Bodhi recited, resting his head on Galen's shoulder. "That's what they taught us at the academy. That's the thinnest seal on a ship. The line between life and the cold, dark death of space. They showed us holos. You never forget just how close you are, every second." He took a deep breath, trying to shake of the morbidity of the thought. "We should keep moving before the rain comes back." Galen leaned in to kiss Bodhi's cheek, then got to his feet. 

The kiss made Bodhi smile, and he followed Galen further up. The next ridge was a little more challenging, and Bodhi found himself a little breathless before he made the peak. "Good thing the doc fixed my lungs! I'd need to be airlifted back to the ship otherwise."

"And she'd have my hide for gloves for bringing you out too early in that case," Galen said, arriving beside him. "Is that your ship?" He pointed.

Bodhi peered and nodded,looking at the sadly leaning ship two ridges over. "That's it. It doesn't look too bad from here all told. Up close that broken strut is going to be ugly."

He plotted out his footing for the descent and paused, chuckling, to pick a torn scrap of cloth from between two sharp rocks a few feet down. "I think that was my hip."

Climbing past him, Galen looked at the scrap in Bodhi's hand and shook his head. "That all happened so terribly fast," he said. "We were bizarrely lucky, or rather, the Force was with both of us."

"A bit of both maybe." Bodhi pocketed the cloth out of habit. That's what pockets were for - keeping things you might need but didn't know when. "If that wind gust hadn't blown me out of the convoy, I might have been on the pad then the two big ships came down so hard. I might have been under one." The thought had been niggling at him. Could the freak storm be the will of the force too? If so, why was he saved when so many others died.

"I am glad that you weren’t, and then saved me," Galen said. "I find that I finally prefer to be alive and well again."

Bodhi laughed softly and leaned down from his handhold, kissing Galen softly. "You and me both." There was something wonderfully silly about kissing Galen while almost dangling off a rock-face. Galen seemed to find it amusing and pleasant as well, to judge from his smile as he returned the kiss. "Good thing we agree," he said with that almost playful glitter in his eyes.

Bodhi gave him another smile and a teasing lick on the lips before darting down into the gully, then upwards to perch on the last ledge, looking down. 

"Hmm, we might need to rappel back down this one. That might be a bit steep the other way."

Galen stood beside him and looked down. "Looks dangerous," he said. "You're right. You just fell down there in the dark?"

"More or less." Now that he was looking at it, he had no idea how he’d done it. "Given how heavily it was raining, I kind of... washed down." He shrugged and straightened up. "All the Eadu radio operator told me was that the pad had been compromised. For all I knew, the facility could have been attacked and the convoy shot down. I didn't give myself time to think."

"We grow with our challenges, utterly banal as this adage is," Galen said. "And you grew into the skill set of a mountain goat" -- pause -- "out of love for me." He still sounded awed by it.

"Out of sheer scorched panic that I might never see you again." Bodhi admitted, somewhat shyly.

"But you did," Galen said, leaning over to kiss his lips again. "Now we are here together."

Bodhi returned the kiss, running a hand through Galen's hair. Then, he headed for his downed ship, walking a circle around it, assessing the damage with a frown.

Galen hung back a little and watched him. A pilot and his ship had a special bond, even if it was just one of these flailing space turtles: - a ship was both home and the perfect freedom to leave anywhere.

Bodhi would have liked to think he wasn’t that sentimental. _A_ ship was freedom. _This_ ship was -- "Not flying anytime soon. With the resources here, the Empire is more likely to junk her. Getting it off world whole might be more than it's worth. Maybe if I can get it down to the pad, I can scavenge some parts. Patch the wing up enough to get it out of orbit."

"And then what?" Galen asked. “Getting it out of orbit is flying, isn't it?”

Bodhi shook his head. "Then nothing, unless I can arrange a pick up. The sublight engines are too close to the broken landing strut. Cheap design to make more cargo space. The risk that the engine integrity is compromised is too high. One micro-fracture and the ship tears itself apart. I can get into orbit on maneuvering thrusters but once I'm up, I won't be able to do anything but float."

He ran his hands through his hair. "I'll run an assessment scan and submit it for orders. Chances are they'll declare it derelict and send a salvage crew later." He popped the hatch and climbed into the leaning ship, offering Galen a hand up. "Once my medical leave is up, I'll most likely be ordered to hitch back with another crew. If I'm lucky they'll assign me a new ship within a week or two."

Galen took the hand and nimbly followed him up into the ship. "So you need to get your own stuff and the cargo out first, then take it up on thrusters?" he guessed, looking around and remembering the first meal they had shared here. "Your spices. Your non-regulation food and drink. Anything not issued by the Empire."

"I don't have much in the ways of personal effects but I could do with having those. Especially if I'm staying at the facility for a while." It didn't take long to pull everything together into his pack. And yes, his spices and stash of food stuffs, all carefully packed. Galen watched him, then offers his help. "Do you have another backpack for me?"

"Uh, yeah. There's a spare." Bodhi ran his hands over the hatches and cupboards, finding what he needed with a minimum of fuss. He'd known his way around this ship in his sleep. "Thank you. I was planning to strap an anti-grav to the cargo and float it down after us."

"Climbing is safer and easier if the backpack isn't that heavy," Galen agreed. “Unless you want to put everything in with the cargo?"

"Just my personal things." Which yes, included his spices. "I can pack the rest and send it on."

"I'll be glad to help you carry your personal things," Galen said with a little smile, "especially as you're my pilot, and I love you."

That distracted Bodhi from his ruthlessly efficient checks of the stowage. He put down the pack and crossed to Galen, kissing him soundly. These little reminders he wasn’t alone any more still caught him off guard. 

Galen put his arms around Bodhi to kiss him back. They had enough time for this. They had time. This alone still felt like a miracle. 

Bodhi drew back, just enough to look Galen in the eye. full of wonder and a little worry. "Galen?"

"Bodhi." He smiled into Bodhi's eyes, as if realising that in this odd little moment, he was happy.

Bodhi's eyes brightened, just... holding Galen, because he could feel it, too. He stroked Galen's cheek, mesmerising the way Galen's face felt. Galen bent his head to kiss Bodhi again, almost ceremonially, as if to underscore the meaning of the moment. Bodhi opened himself to it, just... kissing Galen like there wasn’t anything else in the galaxy to do, nothing else that matters.

Nothing else mattered right now, not the past or the future, not the Empire or the rebels, not the kyber or the Death Star, only Bodhi and Galen. 

Bodhi broke off the kiss with a breathless laugh, pressing his forehead to Galen's. "So this is what if feels like." He smiled, arms loose around Galen's shoulders.

"Yes," Galen said, holding him close, their breath mingling in the cold air of the shuttle. "This is it."

Bodhi smiled, bright and unashamed. "Thank you." He kissed Galen again because he could.

Galen's smile was as bright, his reddish eyes shining with joy and love. "Thank you for existing," he said softly, "and thank the Force for bringing you to me, and me to you."

"Thank the Force," Bodhi echoed softly, and without bitterness for perhaps the first time ever.

Galen kissed him again, holding him close and letting the feelings wash over them both, a large, warm wave that could carry them safely. Bodhi held him for what seems like hours, sharing kisses and basking in the moment. "We could stay here, you know? Tonight. I have a sleeping mat. Unless you have to get back."

"I'll have to send a message to the droid I gave my codes to," Galen said. "So they won't come out to look for me. But then, it should be fine."

"Then stay? Just us." Bodhi asked hopefully. "There's a far bit of daylight left and if we're lucky and the clouds clear a little, we'll be able to see planetset."

"Yes," Galen said. "Let's do that. Just us, with nobody else for miles and miles. You don't have a droid?" Many pilots did.

"No, but I've got a data transmitter. It'll reach the research facility easily enough."

"Good, we can do that," Galen said. "Can you patch me into the data net straight away? I'd rather not talk to a person."

Bodhi nodded, only letting go of Galen long enough to radio in the signal to patch through to the data net, something most ships couldn't do. The advantage of small haulers: - they had better communication systems to even the next model up. "All yours."

Galen entered a few codes, and a droidish whistle answered. Galen entered some more data, there was a whistled acknowledgement, and the line closed. "All done," he said, reaching for Bodhi again.

Bodhi smiles and crosses to Galen, hugging him from behind. "All mine now."

"Completely and utterly, until tomorrow three hours after planetrise," Galen said, leaning backwards into the hug with a grateful sigh."

Bodhi took advantage of the fact Galen wasn't wearing a high collar to molest his throat with kisses. Galen leaned back his head with a pleased sigh, exposing his throat to Bodhi's lips.

"You make me want to leave you covered in marks," Bodhi whispered, his kisses growing fiercer. "They'll never see them but you and I will know."

"I like that," Galen said. "I like the idea that we leave marks on each other." As he did on Bodhi's wrist, the last time.

Bodhi ran his hand over Galen's front, opening his shirt enough to slide it off one shoulder. He sucked a mark on the sweep of Galen's shoulder.

"Oh yes!" Galen moaned, arousal sweeping through him within seconds. He turned his head even further, to offer more skin to Bodhi. "My hungry pilot."

"It's you." Bodhi whispered into his skin. "You make me hungry for you. Always craving more."

"As you make me -- horny," Galen moaned. "For you."

The hand not currently occupied with Galen's chest slid down to cup Galen softly through his clothes. "Will you fuck me this time?" The please was implied in Bodhi’s tone.

"Oh yes!" It came out very eager.

Bodhi groaned warmly, nipping Galen's shoulder again. "I want that. Very much. I want you inside me, on top of me."

Galen clearly liked this. He felt as alive as he hadn't felt in years. Anything was possible, with this lovely man. "What about -- your fresh scars?"

"I can't feel them right now. The medic fixed me up with something to keep them numb for a while. We'll still need to be careful but Galen, I want you. I want you to fuck me."

"Then I -- will!" Galen said. "Where...?" Some place on this ship had to be meant for lying down. Bodhi turned Galen around and kissed him deeply before taking his hand. There was a little cabin space up inside the cockpit. Bodhi pulled open a hatch and unfolded a thin mattress that expanded as he laid it out flat. A couple of pillows followed suit. "I know it's not much but --"

"Quite enough to make love on," Galen said. "And it's yours. Even if the ship, technically, is not." He leaned in, half-bared as he is, lifted Bodhi's hand to his lips, and softly kissed his wrist.

"It's mine for now." Bodhi's words broke off into a moan as Galen took advantage of that weakness in him. His other hand went to the opening of his suit, eager to join Galen in this state of undress. 

Galen reached out to stroke Bodhi's chest with his other hand while his generous lips still softly nibbled on Bodhi's wrist.

"Stars, Galen!" Bodhi struggled to get his suit off one shoulder, already weak at the knees. "I should never have let on about my wrists." He laughed.

Galen ran a finger over that wrist, his hand slightly roughened from the climb. "I like that there is such a nice and easy way to get you going," he smiled.

"You don't need to do that to get me hot." Bodhi shivered warmly, knees shaking. "All you have to do is look at me the way you do."

Galen leaned in to kiss him again. "Bodhi," he murmured. "My pilot. I love you so much."

Bodhi moaned into the kiss. "Or say that. That works too." He looked into Galen's eyes as he kissed him back. "Get me naked, Galen. I want to feel you."

Quickly if a bit fumblingly, Galen started pushing off Bodhi's the rest clothes. Not so fast, though, that his fingers couldn't tangle in the patches of hair on Bodhi's body, or tweak a nipple in passing. Wiggling out of his clothes in a joyous shrug, Bodhi pulled at Galen's too, trying frantically to be naked, to be as close to Galen as he could, to feel as much of him as he could. He covered Galen's neck in kisses, pulling him back towards the bed as he kicked off his boots.

Galen complied with the hurry, happily so. He landed on the bed in a tangle of mostly discarded clothes and Bodhi's narrow, lovely limbs. "You are so beautiful," he breathed, taking Bodhi's face between his hands to kiss him deeply once more.

"Hardly." Bodhi laughed, wrapping a leg around Galen and spreading his legs to make room for him.

"Deeply so," Galen contradicted him. He slid between Bodhi's legs, his hips moving as if he was, instinctively, looking for the place where he's meant to go. "We need something..."

Bodhi tapped a hatch, catching the tube of slick as it falls into his hand. "Here." Galen took it, generously slicked his hand, then his very ready cock, and started between Bodhi's legs, a slick finger sliding inside him.

Bodhi groaned richly, spreading himself wide and clenching around Galen's finger. "Stars, yes! Galen!" He couldn't believe how much he needed this, and how good it felt to finally have it.

Galen soon added a second finger, remembering how Bodhi had done it. "In you now?"

"Yes! Galen, yes! It's not my first time, you won't hurt me," he babbled. "Fuck me, Galen! I need you!"

Galen positioned himself, took Bodhi by the hips, and pushed in with a deep, long sigh. Bodhi shouted Galen's name, arching off the mattress as he felt himself stretch around Galen. Perfect!

Galen kept himself steady and started thrusting, changing his position a little to see which angle gave Bodhi the most pleasure. “That's good. That's good. THERE!” Bodhi arched off the bed with a cry, grabbing Galen, kissing him hard and swearing in Jedhean.

Galen returned the kiss, equally frantically, and kept thrusting in just the way that made Bodhi cry out like that. Seeing Bodhi react in this way to what he himself did was very arousing to Galen, and reduced Bodhi to a whimpering, writhing mess. There's nothing he could do but ride the pleasure, hands moving frantically over Galen's back and shoulders. Every breath was Galen's name or some almost forgotten obscenity driven out of him by pleasure.

"Oh yes, Bodhi, yes!!" Galen drove them on with wild abandon, forgetting everything except the two of them in this small space. Bodhi. Galen. That was the whole world now.

Bodhi looked up at Galen in utter wonder. Naked joy. He wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer and he didn't care. This was too perfect.

"Bodhi!!" Galen shouted, and spilled into him, still thrusting wildly as he did so. That threw Bodhi over the edge too, crying Galen's name loud enough to echo in the small space. Then, he fell back, limp and panting, eyes shining with love.

Galen's eyes were full of love as well as he looked into Bodhi's, still breathless and wordless, still inside, kissing him sloppily. Bodhi laughed breathlessly and returned the kisses, running a hand through Galen's hair. "My Galen. Thank you."

"Thank you, my lovely Bodhi," Galen said. "That was wonderful."

Without letting Galen slip from him, Bodhi rolled them only the sides, taking some of the pressure off his back. He lay there content, stroking Galen's hair and just being there, being happy.

Galen held him, just as happy and languid and fulfilled.

"Bodhi." Followed by another lazy kiss. Galen nestled his head against Bodhi's hair. Everything about his pilot is amazing and wonderful, a great ruthless gift from the Force. "Sleep a little, make more love later?" he suggested.

"I like the sound of that." Bodhi muttered, kissing the curve of Galen's throat. Galen hummed with happiness, warmed through by his pilot's loving attention.

Bodhi reached up, opens another hatch with a tap, and a thick, warm blanket tumbled over them. Half fried as he was, Bodhi got cold at night and liked the weight of a blanket over him. He spread it over them both, content to snuggle close.

"How very handy," Galen murmured, snuggling close as well. It would mean that his pilot needed to sleep right where he worked, with his blanket handy because he ended his work so tired he couldn't even bother to go make his bed in some corner. But it was very handy now.

"Don't like to be cold." Bodhi muttered, tucking the blanket around them. Galen had slipped out of him now but he cuddled close. Solo haul piloting can be a lonely life, and you found warmth where you can. Be it a decadent blanket or exotic alcohol. But rarely in Bodhi's life had it been the warmth of a lovely bedfellow.

"Being cold is horrible," Galen agreed. "Keeps you from thinking." He tilts his head to lazily kiss Bodhi yet again. Bodhi mumbled something into Galen's skin, something content and sleepy that might not be in Galactic Standard. He fell into a doze almost at once.


End file.
